Patent GB-768906-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to coin operated vending machines
IPC: G07F5/08
Filed: 1955-04-14
Abstract: 768,906. Coin-freeing mechanisms. NATIONAL VENDORS Inc. April 14, 1955 [June 1, 1954], No. 10836/55. Class 27. Coin-freeing mechanism for a vending machine is adapted to operate on coins of different denominations, for example, nickels, dimes, and quarters, to total the amount inserted and control the vending of items varying in price by 5-cent increments, for example, from 20 cents up to 50 cents, the nickels, dimes and quarters being inserted in any order or combination. The coins, according to denomination, are fed by a separator and rejector 11 to shoots 5, 7 and 9. Considering first a nickel in the shoot 5, it operates a switch finger 93 to start a motor that rotates a stepped rubber wheel 65 and is then driven along the shoot by engagement with the circumference 81 of the wheel 65. While being driven along by the wheel, the nickel pivots a finger 107 to engage a pin 113 on a bar 115 and move the bar so that the nose 129 of a latch 127 keeps the switch finger 93 in lowered position and so that a stud 147 is moved away from the lower end of a rocker arm 135, allowing a spring 143 to rock the arm. A gear 137 on the arm then meshes with a gear 133 on the shaft 67a driven by the motor and with a gear 139 on a shaft 141, thus rotating a blade contact 165- counter-clockwise from a zero contact C. The length of the curved edge of finger 107 engaged by the nickel is such that the bar 115 is shifted for such a length of time that the blade 165 is rotated only as far as the first contact C-1, where it is maintained by a pawl 151 engaging a ratchet 149. The rotation of the gear 139 moves a stud 175 upwards away from a stop bar 179, thus removing restraint from a pin 215, Fig. 8, on a coin gate 193 pivoted at 207. The released coin gate places stop fingers 195 and 199 at the end of lower coin shoots 5a and 5b which are further blocked by a finger 231 on a coin rest 229, also pivoted at 207, and by a finger 243. The nickel comes to rest in the shoot 5b against the finger 231 and additional inserted nickels step the blade 165 from contact C-1 to C-2, from C-2 to C-3 and so on, these nickels being received one behind the other in shoot 5b until the shoot holds five nickels, when further nickels accumulate in shoot 5a. A dime or a quarter operate similarly in their respective shoots while engaged by the circumferences 83 or 85 of the wheel 65 but as the fingers corresponding to the nickel finger 107 are twice or five times as long as the nickel finger, the motor is connected to the gear 139 for correspondingly longer times and the blade 165 is moved by two or five price contact intervals. After leaving their fingers, dimes or quarters fall to another shoot closed by the stop fingers 199 and 231. When the blade 165 has been rotated to the contact corresponding to the total amount of the coins inserted, a circuit is completed through a wiper 171 and main terminal 169 so that, on operation of a vending machine push button, the machine dispenses an item of that price. At the end of the dispensing cycle, a re-set bar 157 is raised, a cam 163 on the bar releases the pawl 151 and the gear 139, ratchet 149 and blade 165 are spring- returned to the zero position. A plate 239 on the bar is also raised out of contact with a cam 241 on the coin rest 229 so that the finger 231 is withdrawn from shoot 5b and the dime and quarter shoots to release coins in these shoots into a coin box 47 and the finger 243 on the bar is withdrawn to release the nickels in shoot 5a through a shoot 273 into the coin box. A pin 227 on the bar 157 rotates a cam 221 so that the stop bar 179 is prevented from lowering until the re-set bar is returned to its lower position at the termination of the dispensing cycle in order to avoid release of coins into a shoot 15 for return to the customer through a shoot 17. Preventing over-insertion of coins. When the blade 165 has been rotated to a contact corresponding to the highest-priced article, a cam on the shaft 141 operates a switch 261 to de-energize a coil 21 so that fingers 33, 35 and 37 are moved by a spring to a coin-deflecting position in the separator 11 and return any further coins inserted. Returning coins. Return of deposited coins may be obtained, prior to pushing a vending machine button, by pushing down the coin return bar 245 so that the inner end 252 of an operating arm 251 engages and releases the holding pawl 151. The contact blade 165 is thus returned to zero position and the coin gate 193 is opened thereby moving fingers 195 and 199 clear of the end of the coin shoot and allowing the coins to fall into a shoot 15 for return to the customer through a shoot 17.